People v. Townsend
2022 IL App (1st) 191110-U
| Ill. App. Ct. | 2022Background
- Around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2016, two men robbed Trace Hamilton and Rachel Ehrenberg in Wrigleyville; Hamilton’s wallet and cellphone were taken and the cellphone was later recovered near Lake Shore Drive.
- Five months later Hamilton identified Romello Townsend in a lineup as one of the robbers; Ehrenberg identified a filler.
- A police latent-print lift from Hamilton’s cellphone was compared to Townsend’s prints; Officer Cynthia Seavers (12 years’ experience) testified the lift matched Townsend’s prints and that a verifier, Officer Alan Metke, had signed the card.
- At the bench trial the court found Hamilton and Seavers credible, rejected proof of firearms, and convicted Townsend of aggravated battery and attempted armed robbery; sentences were imposed concurrently.
- On appeal Townsend challenged (1) sufficiency of the evidence, (2) admission of Seavers’s testimony that a verifier agreed (asserted hearsay/plain error), and (3) requested correction of the mittimus.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of identification evidence | Hamilton’s in-court ID plus Seavers’s fingerprint match sufficiently proved Townsend’s guilt | Biggers factors undermine eyewitness ID; fingerprint methods deviated from SWGFRAST so match unreliable | Affirmed: despite weak Biggers factors, fingerprint expert’s opinion corroborated ID and supported conviction |
| Admission of verifier testimony (hearsay/plain error) | Testimony that a verifier signed/confirmed the ID was cumulative and harmless; judge presumed to have disregarded hearsay | Testifier relayed out-of-court verification; defendant preserved plain-error review because counsel did not object and evidence was closely balanced | No plain error: admission was harmless/cumulative and record does not show judge relied on hearsay |
| Mittimus clerical error | State agrees mittimus is incorrect and should be corrected | Defendant seeks correction | Remanded for correction of mittimus |
Key Cases Cited
- Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188 (test for evaluating eyewitness identification reliability)
- People v. Collins, 106 Ill. 2d 237 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
- People v. Cunningham, 212 Ill. 2d 274 (appellate review of sufficiency of evidence)
- People v. Piatkowski, 225 Ill. 2d 551 (delay between offense and ID affects reliability)
- Snelson v. Kamm, 204 Ill. 2d 1 (expert training/experience can support reliability despite imperfect methodology)
- People v. Yancy, 368 Ill. App. 3d 381 (harmlessness of hearsay verifier testimony where record suggests judge disregarded it)
- People v. Mitchell, 200 Ill. App. 3d 969 (admission of cumulative hearsay ID evidence is harmless)
- People v. Soto, 342 Ill. App. 3d 1005 (harmless-error analysis for hearsay admission)